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Bacon’s Rebellion:

During the 1670s, the administration of Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley became unpopular with small farmers and frontiersmen, because of the following reasons:
• Restrictions on the right to vote — the institution of a new land ownership requirement
• Higher taxes
• Low tobacco prices
• A pervasive sense of subordination to an aristocratic minority
• Lack of protection from Native American attacks.

In earlier times, Berkeley had worked to establish peace with the tribes and successfully negotiated a settlement in which lands east of the Blue Ridge Mountains were reserved for the white settlers. However, during the 1640s and 1650s, the growing population began to spill over into Indian lands west of the mountains. This clear violation of treaty obligations led to deadly clashes between the races. Many Virginians, including many unemployed former indentured servants, thought the governor stood on the wrong side of this issue.

In 1673, Nathaniel Bacon, a distant relative of Governor Berkeley, emigrated from England and set up a small plantation on the James River. He rose rapidly in public esteem and was appointed to the governor’s council.

After failing to extract a promise of action against the tribes, Bacon recruited a small armed force and in 1676 conducted two forays against the enemy.

When Bacon tried to take his seat in the assembly, he was arrested by the governor’s agents.
Soon released, Bacon raised a small army again and marched on Jamestown. The governor fled and the burgesses hastily enacted measures designed to subdue the Indians. The rebel forces initially prevailed, but they doubted their ability to hold out in Jamestown for an extended period and opted to torch the village instead.

Bacon became ill with dysentery and died in the fall of 1676; the rebellion collapsed immediately. Berkeley briefly returned to power and relentlessly hunted down the rebels before being recalled to England.
The rebellion's results were mixed: An unpopular governor had been temporarily removed. Real progress was made toward thwarting the Indian threat. The tribes realized that they stood little chance against the settlers' superior firepower and signed another peace treaty in 1677.
However, the political strength of the common farmers and laborers had not improved - they would long remain in the shadow of the Tidewater gentry. Further, these plantation-owning families came to realize that unemployed former indentured servants were a threat to social stability. They turned increasingly to the use of slaves, who were regarded as a safer source of labor and were less expensive. Also, many make the argument that the right to bear arms was a direct result of Bacon’s onslaught.

John Locke

Ironically most of the ideas which Americans eventually used to challenge the power of the British King over them, derived from English political philosopher John Locke (1632-1704). In 1689 Locke wrote "The Second Treatise on Civil Government" which describes the then radical concept of the right of individuals to govern themselves. Locke wrote that all individuals are equal in the sense that they are born with certain "inalienable" natural rights. That is, rights that are God-given and can never be taken or even given away. Among these fundamental natural rights, Locke said, are "life, liberty, and property." Jefferson, however, substituted the phrase, "pursuit of happiness," which Locke and others had used to describe freedom of opportunity. He thought that the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of its citizens. When a government did not protect those rights, the citizen had the right and maybe even the obligation of overthrowing the government. Also, his ideas of “life, liberty, and property” can be seen in the Bill of Rights via the Fifth Amendment where no person can be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

Bill of Rights

Bill of Rights
The United States Bill of Rights was initially drafted by James Madison in 1789, consists of the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments limit the powers of the federal government, protecting the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors on United States territory. Among the enumerated rights these amendments guarantee are: the freedoms of speech, press, and religion; the people's right to keep and bear arms; the freedom of assembly; the freedom to petition; and the rights to be free of unreasonable search and seizure; cruel and unusual punishment; and compelled self-incrimination. The Bill was largely a response to the Constitution's influential opponents, including prominent Founding Fathers, who argued that it failed to protect the basic principles of human liberty. In Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist No. 84, he argues that protecting specific rights might imply that any unmentioned rights would not be protected…this is why the Ninth Amendment was included: protection of rights not specifically mentioned in the Bill of rights. The creation of the Constitution entailed hours of debate and compromise, and even when it was completed, some delegates were unhappy with it. The task of fixing the ailing Confederate government was not complete yet; each state had to ratify, or approve, the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists did not want to ratify the Constitution. Basically, they argue that it gave too much power to the national government at the expense of the state governments and that there was no Bill of Rights. The Federalists, on the other hand, had answers to all of the Anti-Federalist complaints. Among them a listing of rights can be a dangerous thing. If the national government were to protect specific listed rights, what would stop it from violating rights other than the listed ones? Since we can't list all the rights, the Federalists argued that it's better to list none at all.
Overall, the Federalists were more organized in their efforts. By June of 1788, the Constitution was close to ratification. In 1790, Rhode Island ratified the Constition and its adjoining Bill of Rights in 1890 by a narrow margin of 34-32.

Loyalists

Loyalists: Mid-Late 1770s
Loyalists, in the American Revolution, colonials who may have objected openly to such harsh measures as the Stamp Act, but who doubted that the English Parliament intended to undermine government by consent in the colonies. They thought creating a new American union was far riskier than remaining part of the British empire. It wasn’t any easy choice. Loyalists weren’t utilized for their military prowess until about 1778, when the British became desperate for soldiers. About 19,000 Americans joined 40 loyalist military units…1/6th of the white population…by 1780, twice the amount of peeps than in the entire Continental army. The stakes were high though, as people who fought against their neighbors could never come back, and many prominent loyalists faced the pain of death and confiscation of property. There were also black loyalists - Goes into next point

Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

In November of 1775, Virginia's royal governor, John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, issued a proclamation in response to information that the colonists had begun forming armies and attacking British troops. Dunmore wanted to put a quick end to the fighting and other activities he considered traitorous. Known as "Dunmore's Proclamation, the proclamation declared Virginia in a state of rebellion and placed the colony under martial law. But the most offensive portion of the document was the section that offered freedom to slaves and bonded servants of patriot sympathizers and forces if they were willing to bear arms and fight for the British. In total, many slaves volunteer for military service, realizing that their best shot at emancipation was with the British…more than 50,000 slaves total (10%) fled from their owners…most who actually made it to the British lines in the North, especially in New England, won their freedom. When the British lost and withdrew at the very end, many blacks couldn’t go back, so they went to Jamaica, Nova Scotia, and London…in the British also created a colony for them in Sierra Leone in West Africa. 20,000 slaves total left the U.S., 60,000 white colonists. 30 in every 1,000 people fled the U.S., many of whom fled to parts of Canada for a generlous land policy, which required and oath toe King George III. By 1812, 4/5th of Northern Canadians = American-born.

Colonel Tye:

In November 1775, the day after Dunmore's Proclamation was issued, 22-year old Titus fled from his cruel, quick-tempered master, joining the flood of Monmouth County blacks who sought refuge with the British as soldiers, sailors and workers. Titus changed his name, gaining notoriety three years later as Captain Tye, the pride of Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment.
In July, 1779, Tye's band launched a raid on Shrewsbury, and carried away clothing, furniture, horses, cattle, and two of the town's inhabitants. With his "motley crew" of blacks and white refugees known as "cow-boys," Tye continued to attack and plunder patriot homes, using his knowledge of Monmouth County's swamps, rivers and inlets to strike suddenly and disappear quickly. These raids, often aimed at former masters and their friends, were a combination of banditry, reprisal, and commission; Tye and his men were well-paid by the British, sometimes earning five gold guineas.
During the harsh winter of 1779, Tye was among an elite group of twenty-four black Loyalists, known as the Black Brigade, who joined with the Queen's Rangers, a British guerrilla unit, to protect New York City and to conduct raids for food and fuel.
After Tye's death, Colonel Stephen Blucke of the Black Pioneers replaced him as leader of the raiders, continuing their attacks well after the British defeat at Yorktown. Tye's reputation lived on, among his comrades as well as the Patriots, who argued that the war would have been won much sooner had Tye been enlisted on their side.

Abigail Adams

First Lady to John Adams, Abigail essentially started the women’s rights movement that would carry on until today. She would exchange letters with her husband throughout the revolutionary period, the most famous of which came in March of 1776.
This remarkable exchange of letters between one of the most famous Revolutionary Era couples, Abigail and to John Adams, illustrates that the calls for political freedom from Great Britain prompted some women to consider the constraints on their freedom imposed by their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.

Indian Removal Act:

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Andrew Jackson's presidency was his policy regarding American Indians.[18] Jackson was a leading advocate of a policy known as "Indian Removal," signing the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830. The Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to purchase tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands further west, outside of existing U.S. state borders.
While frequently frowned upon in the North, the Removal Act was popular in the South, where population growth and the discovery of gold on Cherokee land had increased pressure on tribal lands. The state of Georgia became involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokees, culminating in the 1832 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Worcester v. Georgia) which ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands. Jackson is often quoted (regarding the decision) as having said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" Whether or not he actually said it is disputed.[19]

In any case, Jackson used the Georgia crisis to pressure Cherokee leaders to sign a removal treaty. A small faction of Cherokees led by Chief John Ross negotiated the Treaty of New Echota with Jackson's administration. Ross was not a recognized leader of the Cherokee Nation, and this document was rejected by most Cherokees as illegitimate.[20] Over 15,000 Cherokee signed a petition in protest; it was ignored by the Supreme Court.[21] In 1838, 1,600 Cherokee remained on their lands. The terms of the treaty were then enforced by Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, who ordered 7,000 armed troops to remove them.[22] This resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 Cherokee on the "Trail of Tears."
In all, more than 45,000 American Indians were relocated to the West during Jackson's administration. During this time, the administration purchased about 100 million acres (400,000 km²) of Indian land for about $68 million and 32 million acres (130,000 km²) of western land. Jackson was criticized at the time for his role in these events, and the criticism has grown over the years.

Eli Whitney

invented the cotton gin in 1793, which revolutionized the way Southern cotton was cropped and reinvigorated slavery; and the process of interchangeable parts, that would revolutionize Northern industry and, in time, be a major factor in the North's victory in the Civil War. The cotton gin allowed a slave to clean 50 pounds of short staple cotton in one day. At a stroke, cotton became the great American cash crop and plantation agriculture was rejuvenated. By 1820, cotton accounted for more than half the value of all agricultural exports. Cotton = White gold. 1860: MI: Wealthiest state in union. 350 k whites, 400k slaves. Slaves become more valuable than land itself, $1,000 /slave. Slave owners = first special interest group.

Haitian Revolution

was the most successful of the many African slave rebellions in the Western Hemisphere and established Haiti as a free, black republic, the first of its kind. At the time of the revolution 1804, Haiti was a colony of France known as Saint-Domingue. By means of this revolution, Africans and people of African ancestry freed themselves from French colonization and from slavery. Deemed as a threat to slavery everywhere, some like the British decided to outlaw the Atlantic slave trade in 1808, new republics of the old Spanish empire emancipated their slaves, and Britain ultimately did the same in 1830. France spent so much money as a result of this revolution and its other endeavors, that under Napolean, it was forced to sell the Louisiana Territory to the U.S. for cheap. Slavery in the US, however, continued to run at an all time fervent high; at times being even more atrocious due to the fear of slave revolt. Lead to passages as the Fugitive Slave Law, forcing northerners to help runaway slaves under the power of severe fines and imprisonment. Slave catchers.

Toussaint L’Overture

Toussaint L’Overture was one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution. Louverture is considered as one of the fathers of the Haitian nation. In response to the French Revolution and the Enlightenment philosophy of universal equality, Louverture led the brutal uprising against the slave owners and ultimately seized power over the entire colony.

Abolitionism

was a political movement that sought to end the practice of slavery and the worldwide slave trade. It began during the period of the Enlightenment and grew to large proportions in several nations during the 1800's. A radical shift came in the 1830s, led by William Lloyd Garrison, who demanded "immediate emancipation, gradually achieved.". After 1840 "abolition" usually referred to positions like Garrison's. Many American abolitionists took an active role in opposing slavery by supporting the Underground Railroad. This was made illegal by the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. After the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, abolitionists continued to pursue the freedom of slaves in the remaining slave states, and to better the conditions of black Americans generally. The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 officially ended slavery

William Lloyd Garrison

Although Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a government decree, Garrison supported it wholeheartedly. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, Garrison published his last issue of the Liberator. After thirty five years and 1,820 issues, Garrison did not fail to publish a single issue.

The American (Know-Nothing) Party

was a nativist American political movement of the 1850s. It grew up as a popular reaction to fears that major cities were being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants whom they regarded as hostile to American values and controlled by the Pope in Rome. It was a short-lived movement mainly active 1854–56; it demanded reform measures but few were passed. There were few prominent leaders, and the membership, mostly middle-class and Protestant, apparently was soon absorbed by the Republican Party in the North. The movement originated in New York in 1843 when it was called the American Republican Party and attracted the majority of Whigs. The origin of the "Know Nothing" term was in the semi-secret organization of the party. When a member was asked about its activities, he was supposed to reply "I know nothing."

Gag Bill of 1837

Pro-slavery forces had prevented any discussion of slavery in Congress, so anti-slavery forces, starting in about 1831, had submitted petitions for the abolition of slavery, believing that since there was a right to petition, and thus slavery itself would have to be discussed. The pro-slavery forces responded with a series of gag rules, whereby all such petitions were automatically "tabled" (not read or discussed). In the Senate in 1836, John C. Calhoun attempted to introduce a gag rule. The Senate rejected this proposal, but agreed a method which, while technically not violating the right to petition, would achieve the same effect. If an anti-slavery petition was presented, the Senate would vote not on whether to accept the petition but on whether to consider the question of receiving the petition.

Compromise of 1850

was a series of laws that attempted to resolve the territorial and slavery controversies arising from the Mexican-American War (1846–48). The five laws balanced the interests of the slave states of the South and the free states. California was admitted as a free state; Texas received financial compensation for relinquishing claim to lands west in what is now New Mexico; the territory of New Mexico (including present-day Arizona and Utah) was organized without any specific prohibition of slavery; the slave trade (but not slavery itself) was abolished in Washington, D.C.; and the stringent Fugitive Slave Law was passed, requiring all U.S. citizens to assist in the return of runaway slaves. The measures were designed by Whig Senator Henry Clay and shepherded to passage by Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas and Whig Senator Daniel Webster. The measures were opposed by Senator John C. Calhoun.

John C. Calhoun

was a leading United States Southern politician and political philosopher from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century, best known as a spokesman for slavery, nullification and the rights of electoral minorities, such as slave-holders. His ideas helped lead to the American Civil War a decade after his death. Calhoun pushed the theory of nullification, a states' rights theory under which states could declare null and void any federal law they deemed to be unconstitutional. He was an outspoken proponent of the institution of slavery, which he defended as a "positive good" rather than as a necessary evil. Calhoun led the pro-slavery faction in the Senate in the 1830s and 1840s, opposing both abolitionism and attempts to limit the expansion of slavery into the western territories. He was also a major advocate of the Fugitive Slave Law, which enforced the co-operation of Free States in returning escaping slaves.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

was an American abolitionist and novelist, whose novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential as well in Britain. It made the political issues of the 1850s regarding slavery tangible to millions, energizing anti-slavery forces in the North. It angered and embittered the South, and many have claimed her book to have been one of the most responsible factors leading to the Civil War.